My Leaving Cert: Minister for Education and Science, Noel Dempsey."My biggest fear facing into the Leaving Cert was that I wouldn't be able to balance the books in my accounting exam.
Sure enough, I didn't get the sheet balanced then and it's still a problem to this day.
I looked forward to my English and Irish papers and ended up with honours in both. An honours grade in Irish counted as double honours in those days so I was pretty pleased with myself.
There was no such thing as the points race when I did my exams in 1971. You needed a pass in Irish and maths to get into college.
I wanted to do history and English and that's what I did.
I had good study habits - I kept the work up consistently over two years. I knew I wasn't able to cram the way other students could and my three older brothers all warned me to stay on top of things. Believe it or not, I took their advice. I slogged my way through fifth year and was quite relaxed when the exams came along.
Having said that, there were fewer distractions in those days. There was no Jackass or Friends or Playstation to lure me away from the books. Football and hurling were my main weaknesses but I think the physical activity was a help and not a hindrance to my study. It helped me to let off steam.
My parents were very supportive but my house wasn't the easiest in the world to study in.
There were eight of us and three bedrooms. The exam student usually got a space of his own, though. That was a real privilege.
It was business as usual in the house when exams were on - there was too much going on for anyone to get stressed about the Leaving Cert.
My worst memory of the Leaving was the history exam. It was my favourite subject and I didn't get the honour. That was a real heartbreaker because I had worked so hard and I was satisfied with my performance on the day. Perhaps I upset the examiner - history is subjective! You couldn't appeal grades in those days.
We had no night on the town or debs to celebrate the end of the exams - a game of football was about the size of it. They were innocent times.
A lot has changed but I still maintain that the Leaving is not the be-all and end-all of life. I always advise parents to remember that a young person is more than a collection of points. There are so many routes to a career these days. If the exams don't work out there are plenty of other options.
Even still I get the odd nightmare about Leaving Certificate to this day. Psychologists say that exam dreams are a sign of stress. I should be due another one any night now."